All-Muslim city council fires officials who flew Pride flag on public property in Hamtramck, Mich.

The all-Muslim city council of Hamtramck, Michigan has fired city staffers of the town's Human Relations Commission after they flew a Pride flag on public property, in violation of a recently passed resolution banning the practice.

Russ Gordon and Catrina Stackpoole allegedly raised the flag on a city flag pole during a protest near Neibel Street on Sunday.



According to the Detroit News, Hamtramck city council voted unanimously to relieve the city staffers of their duties on Tuesday, with City Manager Max Garbarino confirming shortly after that the flying of the Pride flag was the reason behind the decision.
 

"This Council believes in fairness, neutrality towards our residents, and the rule of law, amongst other things for this community," Council member Khalil Refai said in a statement. "We passed a resolution recently to do just that, and two of our sworn commissioners outright defied it, and did what they wanted."

"We were elected by the people of the community to make these decisions," Refai continued, "and they not only violated the resolution but the trust of the whole community by doing this. For this reason, Council felt the appropriate response was to remove them from their public positions of trust."

Under the Resolution to Maintain and Confirm the Neutrality Of the City of Hamtramck Towards Its Residents, passed on June 13, only the flags of the United States, Michigan, and Hamtramck, along with the Prisoner of War, and one referred to as the nations' flag are allowed to be flown on public property within the city.

Located just outside Detroit, Hamtramck is the only Muslim-majority town in the United States.

The adoption of the resolution was celebrated with cheers and applause inside City Hall, where dozens of concerned residents, Muslim, Christian, and nonreligious alike, had shown up to express their thoughts on the matter.
 

Those opposed to the resolution argued that not allowing the Pride flag to be flown on public property was an act of bigotry, and would harm the community's chances of attracting investments.